Notes in Motion Interactive Dance-making Workshop

Held at The Children's Aid Society (219 Sullivan Street)
New York, NY
www.notesinmotion.org

Robert Abrams
November 12, 2005

Today I attended Notes in Motion's open workshop. They started with an icebreaker exercise where each attendee was given a card with a body part written on it. The object was to introduce yourself to other people using a motion of that body part. This was followed by dance improvisation using the assigned body parts. The audience was welcome to participate. Then they had the audience brainstorm ways in which one's life can be disturbed, such as marriage and getting in people's way. Two pairs of dancers choose an item from the list and improvised a dance representation of that idea. One person in the audience wrote about what she saw in the dance and another person wrote about what she felt from viewing it. The dancers then danced while the writers read. This helped Amanda, the choreographer and Notes in Motion's artistic director, get ideas for her next work. Finally, an excerpt from a new work in progress was performed. The audience was invited to comment on what they saw in the work. I saw kids playing with chalk in a schoolyard, reminiscent of a passage in Cedar Lake's Seed. Other people saw Charlie's Angels. After the performance, there was a reception with tea and scones. Notes in Motion's open workshop opens a window on choreographers' process of developing new works. They proved themselves to be a very accessible modern dance company. It will be very interesting to see their work once it is finished and polished.

Introductions using a body part
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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The group improvises using their assigned body parts
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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Improvising a disturbance
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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Improvising a disturbance
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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Improvising a disturbance
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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Improvising a disturbance
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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Improvising a disturbance
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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Improvising a disturbance
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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Improvising a disturbance
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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A work in progress is performed
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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A work in progress is performed
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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A work in progress is performed
Photo courtesy of Robert Abrams

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